Wesker's Return: Part 2
by CrystalMoonlightII
Summary: It's finally arrived after so long of waiting! The original segment of Wesker's Return has come to a close! We continue on with the same story here, but written in a new writing style, along with better perspective and character plots! The story picks up where it left off! Chris and his team arrive at the Tri Cell lab to try and free Sherry, but nothing is as it seems! T for now!
1. Finding Sherry: Part 1A

**Wow… Two years since I updated this story… Given the recent release of Resident Evil 6, I've found myself brimming with inspiration. Let's see how this new chapter pans out! Keep in mind; I'm slightly altering the perspective of the writing from first person to third. I've found that I write more descriptive content in the Third person.**

**In order to reflect the change in writing style and celebrate the renewal of this story, I've started it as a fresh from this point, dubbing it 'Part 2'. In my opinion the first part was badly written, so here, I intend to continue it to a higher standard. If you need to recap previous events, please go back to part 1 and familiarize yourselves again!**

**Without any further delay, let us continue where we left off. Chris and his comrades are heading toward the Tricell lab in Montreal, and a third party agent is also on his way there, claiming he has a 'Personal Stake'. Without any further delays, let this story continue. The group is now arriving to break Sherry out of confinement!**

* * *

**Finding Sherry: Part 1A**

Hours on the road to reach the destination, by now Chris was more than accustomed to such a feat. The world was no small place in terms of size. The BSAA agent had learned that very quickly during his unforgettable encounter with Wesker in the vast expanses of Africa. The path ahead seemed to wind on forever yet no one spoke a word. In truth, the air was thick with tension and discontent.

The elder of the Redfield siblings kept his eyes firmly on the road, with Claire sat in the seat beside him. Leon was the one at the back. His eyes where cast outward as he watched the scenery pass by. For so long now this small group of friends and comrades had come together under the most strenuous of circumstances. Whenever there was a situation where the world was in danger, these four would be on the frontline.

Then of course, there was Jill Valentine. She had been beside Chris since the very beginning of all this! His most trusted friend, his partner, and at one point, an enemy against her own free will. She had seen so much, experienced so much, and yet this battle against the odds never seemed to end. No matter what though, she would fight on against any obstacle. The innocent people of this world didn't deserve to suffer at the hands of the deadly Viruses that the Umbrella Corporation once created.

Everyone felt their attention pulled back to the harsh confines of reality when the SUV pulled to an abrupt stop, making its passengers jerk forward slightly. A seemingly endless amount of snow was coating the ground outside, making the already low temperature drop even further. The harshness of the Canadian winter was setting in for the months to come, enveloping everything it touched in an embrace of the purest white.

A massive structure was faintly visible through the frosted glass of the SUV's front window. It stood towering at twelve stories high, encrusted with enormous amounts of snow and ice. Not more than a handful of dimly lit lights could be seen from the many windows of its various floors. It was obvious to the trained eye however; that what could be seen of the building from here was merely the civilian operated portion of a much larger complex. Tri Cell where clearly not fools, and would have a front operation running, hosted by blissfully unaware civilian staff. The section where Sherry was being held was several levels below the ground, far from the unforgiving gaze of the public eye.  
-

"We're here. Everyone get ready. Who knows what we'll face inside?" Chris unbuckled his seatbelt and scanned the somewhat bleak and snowy scenery outside.

Claire's attention was vastly shaken with the events of everything going around in her mind. As her gaze connected with the sight of the building before her, her expression twisted with mild worry. "So, Sherry is in there? It seems a little too-"

"Obvious?" Leon asked apathetically from the back seat of the car.

The government agent took a moment to check over his weapon, a polished black special forces Issue pistol, before continuing. "It's obviously a front operated by the company. This kind of research is never allowed to be conducted in the eyes of the public."

There was both painful and obvious truth to that statement. So many times before, people have painfully suffered at the hands of those who trifled with Bio Organic Weapons. Every single time such deeds had transpired, a traumatic loss of life was all but assured.

Leon wasn't going to give up on the young woman trapped inside the facility though. Ever since the horrors of Raccoon City he had not only been responsible for saving Sherry's life, but he had viewed her as a younger sister in many aspects as well.

Just when she was beginning to feel her confidence drop slightly, Claire felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking back, she saw it was Leon. His face adopted a look of determination. It was a look that, since his days in the government, he had a reputation for carrying with both strength and commitment.

"We'll all do our best for her; I promise you that, Claire."

Hearing those words from Mr Kennedy, a man Claire viewed second in terms of trust only to her own brother, brought a small amount of peace to her already active mind. This entire situation however, risked being far more grim than that. From everything that they had all seen so far, it was clear Sherry was in very real and life threatening danger.

There was no more time for words now though. The sands of time continued to move forward, unwilling to wait for those who needed an extra second to spare. With the goal ahead now clear, everybody climbed out of the car and proceeded forward, the sound of boots crunching through the thick white snow as they advanced.

Upon her arrival in the courtyard with the others, Jill took the lead and began to act as point man for the group. When the massive building she had previously seen from the car was in her full view, her eyes widened in slight awe. The place was colossal! Regardless of what purpose it may have served it was blatantly obvious that there should have been many people busy at work here

However, there clearly wasn't anyone around at all. When that lone thought crossed Jill's mind, she voiced it outward. Pausing, she turned to look to Chris. "It's far too quiet in here, don't you think?"

Returning that same cautious look to his female partner, Chris removed the safety from his pistol. "You're telling me…"

"So," Leon carefully scoped out the scene before him. He was taking up the role as rear guard, making sure nothing was there to jump anyone by surprise from behind. For all intents and purposes, that was an important job.

"How are we supposed to find our way in here?"

Kennedy put the question forth with a genuine amount or seriousness. This wasn't an officially sanctioned government job. There was no way for him to call in for help from Hunnigan if he needed it. This time, he was on his own.

While Chris was about to grace Leon with a response, he was cut off before the words left his mouth. His comm link had begun to crackle with static, signalling an incoming call. That brought a thin but thankful smile to his face. Not letting a moment go to waste, he connected to the line.

"Redfield." The BSAA agent spoke into his earpiece.

The line was terribly distorted with static. Any kind of voice that was trying to communicate at the other end was barely audible. All that Chris could here was hissing and crackling. It was bombarding his ear rather painfully. It kept going for a moment, but then it was cut dead.

"Fantastic, that's the last thing we need." The muscular man let out a frustrated sigh.

However, a moment later, the PDA safely tucked away in his jacket pocket began to ping. It was signalling him that a new secure message had arrived for him to read. Carefully taking the device out of its safety cover, and shielding it from the snow, he opened it up to read…

'**It's James! The weather conditions really aren't helping anything, and I'm picking up a lot of interference near your location. I won't be able to assist you any further, but I've sent a route map to guide you into the secure part of the complex. Find it enclosed.'**

After opening it up like instructed, the screen of Chris' PDA begins to show the schematics of a basement level research facility. There were two ways to reach it from his current position. The first was actually going inside the main civilian building, and using a Master Key system involving two clearance cards to access the elevator's emergency settings. The second was by hacking an encrypted console in one of the courtyard's storage building's to gain access to a concealed maintenance tunnel.

With his choices now obvious, Chris showed his PDA to the others…

* * *

**Fifteen Minutes Later….**

Back at the Front entrance of the facility, Chris and his comrades had found their way to the storage building which lead to a maintenance hatch. Chris and Leon where watching the entrance of the small building. The silence throughout the entire complex was becoming so unnerving it was almost vicious in nature. They had to keep their eyes peeled in case something was still lurking outside in the icy abyss.

The inside of this little storage building was rather inconspicuous to the untrained eye. Several shelves of office supplies and frozen boxes were stacked up in the closest corner to the door leading inside as well. Given their well-known brand names and logos they were boxes containing computers. Lastly, a little way away from those, were a few small drums of industrial paint stripper for walls. In all honesty, it was hardly the place that anyone would draw their undivided attention to.

The only thing that was out-of-place within this little abode for storage was a lone metallic key pad. It looked very high-tech, brandishing letters, numbers, and a small digital screen to display the visual readout for whatever you typed into it. That was where Jill was at this exact moment in time. In her left hand she was brandishing a small USB decryption device, her fingers frantically tapping away at keys. The look she wore on her face was one of supreme focus for her task.

Claire stood at the left side of her, propped up against the wall with her hooded winter jacket huddled close for warmth. Relinquishing her wall supported position; she gazed across to Jill with slightly tired eyes.

"Any luck with that thing?" Given how quiet the whole place was in general, her voice carried a fairly substantial echo, even though she wasn't even talking above a reasonable volume.

Jill remained unflinching in her dedicated task. Her eyes needed to stay on the keypad where several strings up numbers where flashing in a red italic font. She wouldn't be so rude as to not respond to a question though. After tapping a few more buttons on the keypad, she let her lips curve into a slightly victorious smile.

"There's one last encryption to crack. Given the amount of security they have on this one console, Chris' contact most have their information right. This should be the way in."

Back at the door Leon shot a fairly serious expression toward Chris. After holstering his weapon for a moment, the secret service agent folded his arms.

"I need to ask you Chris. Any ideas why a group like Tri Cell would be interested in Sherry? They're supposedly the ones that fund the BSAA, right?"

Been given such a large question did actually fill Chris with a small amount of unease. They did indeed; fund the BSAA, and a great deal of the specialized military that operated through the BSAA. If the company was responsible for acts that actually caused the further spreading of Bio Terrorism in the world, the criminal and moral implications would be too large to comprehend. Then again, that wouldn't be the first time it happened

The only half decent answer Chris was able to give Leon, was a reference back to the recent events that transpired in Africa several months prior.

"Six months ago when I was in Africa we came across rouge Tri Cell executive by the name of Excella Gione. She was in charge of overseeing a great deal of operations with the West African department of the company."

Chris brought his eyes up to connect his gaze with that of Leon. At that point, two pairs of somewhat battle hardened eyes were exchanging serious glances. They both knew the consequences if this situation is similar to the one in Africa.

"I can only assume this is the same situation as back then, some kind of rouge element exploiting their power to gain control behind the scenes."

"I'VE GOT IT!" The familiar voice of Jill echoed through the snow stricken wilderness.

While the conversation between Chris and Leon set to continue, it would now have to wait. The pair moved away from the door, with Leon being the one who pushed it shut! From there they navigated past the shelves to where Jill and Claire where standing.

A passageway had since been revealed. Claire, not wanting to waste time, stepped forward to enter it, looking around to examine the scene before her eyes as she trudged deeper within. There didn't seem to be anyone in there, so she was content with going in about halfway to get a good view of the environment. It was reasonably well-lit, with pipes feeding across the ceiling and going deep into the walls. The colour of everything around her was painted with the most violent shade of stoplight green. In fact, it was clearly mass-produced industrial paint, being a cheap economy class at best.

Everything her eyes came into contact with seemed as if it was touched by the passage of time. Much of it looked worn and crusty, grates rusting and pipes uncared for, much of which she assumed wasn't maintained very well. Either this place was very decrepit, or it wasn't built with the intention of been a long term facility. If the second one was correct, people clearly had no intent of looking after its internal systems beyond the bare minimum.

While it was obviously dank and mouldy, it was amply sized enough for whole teams of people to enter it at any given time. Perhaps the most shocking contrast of all was the overly oppressive and sticky humidity. It didn't even need to be said how much of a stark contrast all of his was from the outside. It was fairly clear that this way some kind of emergency tunnel that ran above the secret facility's ventilation system

Beads of dirty air humidifying water were dripping from pipes, with the intense smell of damp being something that was brutally choking to the senses. At the far end of this offensively close and dirty atmosphere, was the somewhat relieving presence of an elevator. That sight at least, was something to bring the frailest of smiles to Miss Redfield's face at a time like this.

Turning on her heels slightly, she gestured for her Brother and the others to follow her.

"C'mon! It looks pretty safe!" She called loudly.

Chris was the first one to follow, his hulking presence being the first that came through the entrance to the passage. Jill was next in Leon, following suit, with Leon being the last of the three. Upon entering, everyone appeared to have a similar reaction to the humidity. Before advancing, each member of the team took a moment to remove their jackets before continuing any further. This was the kind of heat you would associate with a tropical Asian climate, not something to be taken lightly.

Once the more trivial matter had been set aside, the foursome continued onward. As their feet made contact with the ground, the resulting footsteps resonated powerfully; their echo's bouncing off the walls for quite some time. This was accompanied by the occasional creak of a rusty maintenance pipe, or perhaps the faint humming of a barely functioning ventilation fan. Everyone kept their guard up the whole way, with handguns or in Jill's case, a machine pistol been carried as they advanced toward the elevator at the end of the passageway.

Once it had been reached, the air of tension amongst the team dropped the slightest level, Claire been the one to release the faintest little sigh.

Chris wasted no time in calling forth the elevator, by flicking the one button it had on the side of its panel with the tip of his finger. Alas, they waited, and waited, until eventually the rather comforting PING of the elevator door opening resonated through everyone's ears.

"At least they serviced the elevator shaft." Leon made that remark rather bluntly.

As those elevator doors slid open, there was but another violent contrast in comparison to the previous scene they had just spent minutes walking though. This elevator was a pristine white, so pristine in fact, that it could have almost been possible to see one's reflection looking back at them in the wall.

Leon was about to take the first step forward, but stopped, just as everyone did, when the atmosphere became harsh with the intent to kill. It was as if someone was aiming the sharpened point of a knife at the entire group, and was honing in to stab it unforgivingly into their hearts. He could feel eyes upon him, watching him, just as the others could.

"We aren't alone here." Chris turned fast and aimed his weapon behind, as if by animal instinct.

However, there was nothing there at first glance. The presence of hostility was unmistakable, but the actual presence needed to support that, was not. Chris kept his pistol gripped tightly with the safety off, accompanied by the smallest bead of sweat dripping down his forehead. He inhaled hard, with the tension threatening to bring his heart to bursting point.

That was when he saw it the culprit of such hostility. Out of the corner of his eye crawled a shadow. Still concealed in the darkness that the deepest, dampest corner of the pipes provided, the being let out a low, salivating snarl. It wasn't human, that much was for sure. It carried the aura of an animal, vicious and predatorily in its nature. When it finally slinked its way into plain sight, Chris motioned for his comrades to move into the elevator, quickly and silently!

Before them all, positioned dominantly on one of the rusting old pipes, stood a rather large Hunter. Its claws were sharped and it's eyes baring the desire to slake blood. It quickly jumped down from its vantage point, letting out a low growl as it slowly moved toward its prey. With every step it was getting closer.

Leon made his way into the elevator with Jill and Claire. At that same nerve wracking moment, two more Hunters crawled across the pipes and jumped down. The Hunter in the centre released a mighty shriek from its hellion lungs. With the signal to attack now given, they came darting forward on fleet feet.

Chris hardened his aim and let a couple of shots loose from his gun, both of which impacted, but did little more than knock the Hunter on the left off his feet for a second. Knowing the odds he faced, Chris jumped back into the elevator. With hurried reflexes Leon and Claire pulled their weapons, while Jill punched the DOWN button on the elevator!

The air was palpable, while that all too familiar feeling of fear and urgency threatened to crush it flat. Leon and Claire where both firing pot-shots out of cold small steel box they were backed into! The Hunters where so close now, all three of them been mere metres away from been able to claw at their human pray trapped inside the metal box at the end of the corridor. Ready to pounce, the hunters leapt up, but the elevator doors closed as they did. The result of that were vicious claws punching into the thick steel doors as the group descended.

"That was way too close for my liking." Claire said as she clutched her weapon frantically.

Jill slumped against the wall for a moment, breathing deeply. From there, the group descended further into the complex. They were totally unaware of what would await them when those doors would come open again.

Time seemed to drag on forever as the metal cage descended further. For all they knew it could have been into the very depths of hell itself. Places like this where uncharted territory in which disaster could lurk around any corner. Plus, to make things worse, the young lady they were here to rescue was in the middle of such unrelenting agony since the very beginning!

Claire was the most aware out of everybody as to the pain that Sherry had to endure during the unrelenting chaos that Raccoon City caused. More than anything, she was like a mother figure to the young girl at the time. At twelve years old she was forced to endure things that no small child should ever have to. It pained her even more to know that in her adult life, everything was very much still the same.

* * *

**A couple of minutes later**

Once the door came open again, the path forward revealed itself to the team. It was a pristine white research lab corridor, it's walls where seemingly untainted. Not a single splatter of blood or the entrails of a half rotted creature had found its way to them.

Chris, who saw this lack of open hostility as an obvious good sign, was the first one to leave the elevator and advance down the beaten path. With his gun still handy he kept up a brisk pace, the sound of his military boots squeaking slightly as their dampness from the snow made contact with the unstained cleanliness of the pristine medical white floors.

The others followed him with a similar pace, making sure their guard was kept firmly up at all times. These kinds of environments where usually prime places for some kind of god awful thing to transpire. Yet, to their surprise, each and every one of them reached the end of the corridor to find that there was no hassle. In fact, the only thing that barred their path was an airtight door.

Naturally, being the one to possess the brute strength, Chris was the one who made an attempt at forcing that same door open, but alas, there was no favorable result from it.

Now Leon, who wondered if there was anything they could do, stepped forward. "Chris, it's sealed."

Once Leon was done saying his piece, both of the men stepped forward to apply their combined strength to the airtight door in the hopes of moving it. However, even their combined force would prove to not be enough. It was literally unbreakable with nothing short of explosives

After coming all of this way, Chris was most frustrated by the events playing out before him. It was showing on his face plainly as daylight.

"I don't believe this. We came all this way and there's ONE door blocking us_…" _Redfield frowns.

Just when his already shortened temper was about to reach its end, a voice started to blur over the electronic messaging system. They could all faintly tell it was of a British origin, but it was twisted and manipulated with computer technology to distort its pitch and tone.

"**I can get that open for you, but you HAVE TO be ready. B.O.W's are on the other side."**

Things became a little chaotic in the corridor for a moment as the distorted voice blurred over the messaging system. In the end, Claire is the one who made the choice to go ahead and she gave the person a reply!

"How can we trust you if you were in here before us? You could be working for them." She calls out.

Clare didn't get any kind of answer from the mystery voice after that. She was about to give up, but then…

"**I assure you I'm not. You have my word on that. Behind that door I can see four zombies, and something that comes up on file as a…REGENARATOR. Unsealing it is going to cause BIG trouble unless you're ready."**

Chris shot a cautious look across to his sister after that. "Can we really trust whoever the hell's calling the shots here?"

After listening so cautiously, Jill brought her eyes up to the look at the communication intercom in the corner. "They might be our only way in, as much as I wouldn't recommend it; this might be our only way inside."

This one required some major caution before giving any kind of answer. There was no guarantee that whoever this was, they weren't some kind of lunatic, or even worse, a Tricell executive aiding the enemy cause.

"Wait a second, hold on." Claire looked up at the intercom as if she had an idea.

"Can you give us a name for yourself? We don't have any reason to take your help unless we can start to trust you?"

Again, there was a brief moment of silence from the voice up in the sky.

"**That isn't a problem. The name's Markus Valiant. Now, is there anything else you need from me? Time's short for all of us here, I'm sure. I doubt you people are supposed to be here EITHER."**

Claire brought her gaze and fixed upon her comrades, Leon in particular for some reason.

"He seems to answer to me for some reason. I'll do what I can to get us in."

With a seemingly working system now in play here, Claire believed that she could find the answers to getting further inside. She lifted her head to look at the intercom once again.

"Please will you unseal the door for us? After we're through, we want some answers from you, deal?"

Everything fell into silence from there… The tension in the atmosphere started to rise again to the point where it was capable of throttling someone. Just what was this man doing? Did he really have the access to the system they so desperately needed, or was it a mere bluff? They waited and waited, for several minutes at the very least. Nothing was happening, and the tension was unbearable…

Then finally…

"**Door opening in five seconds. I'll contact you again when you get to the main office past the research lab at the other side of the hall. Good luck, ALL OF YOU."**

After that the line simply went dead. They could do nothing now but wait. More wait; gut wrenching, unnerving waiting… Guns were aimed at the door as everyone stood ready. An agonizingly eternal second later, the door SWISHED open…

Rotting human corpses began to tumble out, and the first round, was fired…

* * *

**End of Chapter 1A**

**Well guys, thank you for taking the time to read the new and improved chapters of Wesker's Return. If you're still interested, why not go ahead and read the story of the guy behind the intercom in the next chapter?**

**It's already uploaded, and totally unique from his perspective**

**This is how I'm going to work it for as long as this story arc plays out for! I'll upload the chapters for both Chris' team, and Markus simultaneously, and then you can read them one after the other to get the full scope of the story! Fear not, I don't just have Markus sat in that computer room for the whole story arc!**

**Until next time folks!**

**Thanks again for reading folks**


	2. Finding Sherry: Part 1B

**You guys may notice here that I'm trying to write this story from a slightly different approach! For the first time I'm attempting a story which has simultaneous chapters overlapping, each set from the viewpoint of different characters. I'm giving this a shot because it's how I actually want to write the sequel to Wesker's Revenge as a whole.**

**Here we see things from the viewpoint of the mysterious third-party agent who has followed Chris and his comrades for the past few chapters. I can promise you, he isn't your average two-bit character with a cheaply improvised background. **

**I've added a lot of new and unique spin-off concepts and alternative universe ideas to give him an interesting background. You will see as we go along! Anyway, enjoy the story! Keep in mind, his name isn't revealed for a REASON! Several people who have already part ONE of Wesker's Revenge, and the story Fifth Survivor may already know who he is. Now, I intend to confuse them all!**

* * *

**Back Entrance of The Tri Cell Building: Same time as Chris' Team Arrived**

**Finding Sherry: Part 1B**

Stood in solitude, a lone figure was using the seemingly endless snowfall to mask his arrival. Undetected by anyone nearby, he quickly scaled the towering perimeter wall of the building, and landed. The sound of his feet connecting with the concrete was muffled by the angelic white substance that coated the ground and below.

Things where proceeding as planned. He was now inside the complex, if not a bit behind his originally allotted schedule. How Chris and the others who had been watching closely, got there ahead of time was fairly obvious. There was no way he would have being able to continue on his current course aboard the chopper he was earlier riding. The atrocious weather would have made sure of that. Having to switch to another form of transport slowed him down avidly.

Letting out a shallow grunt, the man, now clad in blue military style combats with a t-shirt and long white winter jacket, ran a hand through his snow dampened hair. He raised his head, briefly bringing his face into view as he assessed the sheer magnitude of the building before him. There was little time for him to finish his mental assessment, as the black watch around his wrist began to beep.

Ducking behind the cover of a snow enveloped car, he pressed the button to connect the call, and then brought the watch closer to the mouth so he could speak.

"Go ahead. I'm in position, all be it a few minutes late."

There's a faint crackle over the line. If it wasn't for him operating on a totally invisible connection this call would be impossible to put through.

"**Very good… Now proceed inside the main building and take the elevator on the bottom floor. From there you can use the encrypted security cards to reach the rest of the facility. You want the fourth basement level… After that, lock the system settings behind you."**

The voice speaking to the nameless man is female, with a thick Russian accent.

Shielding his watch from the utterly unforgiving snowfall, the man clad in his long white coat backs through the frozen car park area toward the rear entrance of the building. Once he's at one of the lobby's back doors, he brings the watch up to speak again.

"Lexy, once I'm inside I imagine I'll lose the comm line. Connect to my Vital signs and use the GPS system to follow me through the building."

There is a thick London accent coming from the man talking into the watch. It's obvious that he's the man who was snooping around in the security building earlier that day.

The mysterious man placed his gloved hand upon the door and looked at it in several places. They seemed to be automatic doors with no handle, and the sheer cold had frozen them shut. The only way to get inside using this entrance was going to be through some improvising. After reaching inside his coat the man produced a silver pen.

This pen looked shiny and new, but it most certainly wasn't for anything related to writing. There was no tip for this pen to write with, and there were three little buttons on the side. At the back, usually where there would be a button to click the back of the pen were two small circular holes instead.

"**Be careful once you enter the building. You will be alone, and need I remind you that-"**

The voice of the woman speaking became shrouded in crackling and static also. Just like Chris' comm line, his connection was picking up some serious interference as well. It kept on crackling for quite some time, and then just died completely.

He was trying hard not to worry. Keeping his mind focused on the task at hand, the man let a brief sigh escape from his lips.

"Looks like I lost the connection sooner than I anticipated. I better get to work before the snow falls any harder."

Aiming the back of the pen at the door, the man pressed the middle one of the three which jutted out of the side of the device. A thin red beam projected out. When it hit the sides of the metal door frame, they slowly began to heat up, gradually becoming red in colour. The temperature of the metal was rising to an insane level.

What he was doing at that point had now become clear. He was cutting in the frozen door with a laser. Going very carefully, he pressed the button in harder to widen the beam, and then began to move the pen down to cut into the left side of the icy metal.

* * *

**Ten Minutes Later**

The nameless man outside had now become the one to fall behind. The people he was supposed to be watching had now become the ones who were ahead of him. This was cause for concern, especially when he considered the way he originally wanted to approach this situation. Been late to the scene earlier was already responsible for the risk of compromising his objective once. He couldn't allow that to happen a second time.

"That should be enough for now. I'd better hurry." He relinquished his cutting with the laser device and wiped a bead of sweat away from his brow.

Back outdoors, surrounded by the endlessly snowy expanses, the British agent let out a small chuckle of success, before he stood again and moved away from the door. He had successfully cut his way through the obstacle before him. Now all there was to it was to take it down.

After slipping the pen away again in his jacket, the man focused his strength. He felt the energy flow as he channelled the force to his leg, and delivered a swift but forceful straight kick to the freshly laser cut door. Upon meeting with the force he had visited upon it, the damaged portion of the door fell in on itself with a loud CRASH!

Now, he was free to enter the lobby. Before he did so however, he was going to be smart and exercise caution. He could see nothing beyond the door he had just kicked in. According to his Intel the civilian facility went down at least four days ago. There was no power, and whatever was responsible for shorting out remained totally unknown. He couldn't proceed in complete darkness. With that in mind, he reached into the left side pocket of his combat pants, and took out something that resembled the case for a pair of glasses.

Once he had taken a few steps further in, he opened up the case and removed from it what seemed to be a rather average and unassuming pair of reading glasses. They were tinted the most unusual shade of Amber. The only thing about them that was a little more unusual was that the frame was slightly thicker, and there was a small red button built into the piece of the frame beneath the right eye lens.

He brought his watch up again so he could tamper with it a little more, the faint sound of bleeping and pinging echoing around him as he adjusted some of the settings on the super high-tech piece of equipment.

"There we go." He spoke firmly.

He let his finger hover over one of the many buttons on the thick black sports watch that was strapped tightly around his wrist.

"Settings adjusted, audio synthesizer regulated… "He held the button on the watch down with his finger now.

"Begin voice recognition program now. POWER ON."

Suddenly the scene before his eyes was one he was able to see. The glasses covering his eyes had engaged their built in Night Vision setting, and he could clearly make out the situation in the lobby with ease.

"Time to move forward." He reached down to the .45 Handgun holstered at his hip, and drew it from its resting place. Its metallic blue coldness as he touched it always made him have a slightly more relaxed feeling.

Removing the safety and holding the weapon tightly, he began to go ahead into the lobby, coming up to a reception desk first of all.  
-

There was a women sprawled over it with what appeared to be a trail of her dried blood encrusted upon it. This splatter of red liquid had seeped over the Tri Cell logo that adorned the front of the desk, covering a fair-sized portion of the top section of the design. A look of pure anguish, sheer unrefined agony, was present on her face. While a strand of her strawberry blonde hair had covered one of her eyes, the other bore a look of almost inhuman fear and confusion. It was wide open, stating at him. However she died, it had become clear that it was while experiencing a lot of pain.

He had to focus on the task at hand though. He had learned all too well that death was sometimes unavoidable in this world. With that firmly in mind, the Agent went around the side of the desk, forcing him to carefully step over another body in the process. Once he had reached the end of the desk, he took the path straight ahead of him. It was a thin office corridor. It trailed off into a large work area that was filled with a great many clear glass office cubicles.

That's when something most grotesque smacked him in the face. It was an ungodly stench, one he knew well. It was the smell of misery, hopelessness, and decay. Death was all around him; it was seeping up his nostrils, and it wrapped itself around his senses. A sudden sense of unease began to build which forced him to look around at his feet.

Dead, decaying Bodies were strewn everywhere! Inside the glass cubicles he saw office workers still sat in their chairs, disemboweled, gutted and torn into. They were at his feet, sprawled across the desks, leaned against the walls! Entrails where scattered from corner to corner, blood was encrusting the ceilings. NOTHING was left alive in here! It was now that the urgency of the situation truly dawned upon him. Countless numbers of innocent people had been slaughtered in here like animals.

Now feeling somewhat uneasy, the British man let out a tense breath as he took his gun in one hand. From there he raised his watch with and spoke quietly.

"Engage motion tracker."

In response to the voice of its wearer, the watch let out a brief, but very high-pitched ping. A tiny holographic readout projected out from the face of the watch thereafter. It showed a detailed little map of the area he stood in, represented in holographic form. However, there was nothing there. It had an operational range of over one hundred metres, and not a single blip to represent a life sign shown. EVERYTHING was dead. That fact, only made him feel more uptight as the seconds bled through his fingers. Getting out of this place, and into the facility, was his top priority.

He was going in the right direction to reach his first goal. According to the information he had been given on the way here, the chief researcher of the Montreal complex was also posing as the manager of the civilian building as part of his cover. With that fact in mind, the elevator that would respond to the Master Keys was hidden in the back of the 'Manager's' office. Through the schematics he had seen earlier, he knew that was on the ground floor

"Not far to go n-"

An extremely loud PING suddenly escaped from the watch around his wrist. It resonated strongly and bounced from wall to wall as it shattered the almost deafening silence. The motion tracker appeared to have picked something up! Straight ahead then to the right, about ninety metres away! After lowering his watch the Agent started forward again. He clutched his metallic firearm in both hands and proceeded forward cautiously!

As he passed by the rest of the office cubicles that connected to the branch in the corridor, he saw more gut wrenching remains of the people who had once worked here. The worst was a corpse, which had somehow ended up sprawled across long wooden oak conference desk. The head was missing, leaving nothing more than a jagged stump of the neck joint on show. Its legs had literally been severed clean of the torso, leaving its decayed and maggot ridden innards to spill out of the midsection.

The Agent pushed on with a sense of renewed vigor as a wave of powerful adrenaline coursed through his body. His feet pounded against the blood encrusted carpets and shallow grunts escaped him as his breathing became deeper. He took a right at the end of the corridor before him, leaped over a collapsed copying machine and came to a halt outside a heavy-looking wooden door. The source of that beeping from the watch was apparently right behind it.

The letter's which rested above that door made him feel a most cruel sense of sarcasm. Inside this room was where he needed to get anyway!

"Manager's Office. Wonderful..." He let out a dark chuckle.

He held his position firmly and didn't move himself an inch. There could have quite literally been ANYTHING waiting behind that door. Making foolish risks when operating alone was like asking for something to put an end to your life. So, he waited for a moment while he steadied his breathing.

"Three," He took a step closer to the door.

His hand found its way upon the cold silver handle, "Two."

"One…" He slowly pushed the door open and stepped inside the office.  
-

Upon entering, he found that there was literally nothing there! Just as the motion tracker had started to lead him down this path, it fell silent again.

"This place is a mess…" The British man's eyes started to inspect the small room.

Paperwork was strewn across the room, A filing cabinet was pushed down as well. It now remained ajar, pressed up against the side of a table with a globe atop of it. Upon the wall was a large television screen with a huge crack in its middle. This damage didn't look accidental though. It was the kind of forceful breaking of any object that usually happens on purpose. The most familiar sight of a firearm could be seen perched on the edge of the manager's desk as well. Last of all and perhaps most ironic was the form of a deceased figure slumped in a bloody leather executive's chair in the back corner of the room. The head was down, and that concealed his face. However, it was obvious through the atmosphere in the room that he died a miserable death.

This sight in particular brought a most sadistic smile to the face of the British man who was blatantly intruding. He closed the door behind him, followed by slowly walking to the desk in the center so he could look at it. In the center of it was a red button which remained unused. The glass case which protected it was lifted up, but the button itself had not been touched. So naturally, the man pressed it.

Everything had been silent in the room up until that point, which had now become filled with a stark contrast of noise. The button that The Agent pressed made a panel of the back wall near the chair bound corpse slide away rather mechanically. Behind that patch of missing wall were an elevator and a shiny metal keypad with two card slots! THIS was the way into the underground complex he was looking for! A triumphant smile slipped on the face of the mysterious agent for the slightest moment. Then it was time to set to work. He perched himself beside the elevator panel, and nudged both corpse and chair against the desk with his foot so he could work.

From his jacket he produced two key cards. One was a shiny yellow color, with the second one being a dark metallic black! After they were both inserted into their allocated slots and button on the side panel was pushed, the emergency power came into play within the room. A dim purple light flickered into existence from above as the elevator doors slid open!

"Great. Now I can get myself out of this dump." He smiled faintly as he brought his feet forward.

His attention was taken away however, when the air in the room became sinister and slimy. It wasn't dangerous or outwardly vicious, but dirty and corrupt.

"WHAT?!" His eyes came down to the watch on his wrist. The motion detector was chiming like crazy!

That kind of insane beeping was only possible if something was RIGHT next to him! A low, hungry, decayed moan slithered its way across the room, crawling off the walls like the spawn of a satanic monster. When the British Agent turned, he saw the Facility Manager was stood upright, just meters away from him. His eyes where hollow and white, with putrid, fleshy saliva oozing from his mouth. The god awful stench was like none other.

"Oh Christ… Not these things…"

When the sheer chaos in his brain took hold, the only living man in the room pointed his gun as he took slow steps backward into the elevator. He fired, his gun letting out an ear-splitting BANG! The bullet sped out of the gun, jamming itself in the throat of the decaying corpse, making its rotten form fall flat. It wasn't dead! The Agent was just about to aim again, but then his watch went into overdrive!

"Oh, god no… SHIT!" The readings from his watch where off the scale!

Dozens upon dozens of blips could be seen pouring down the corridor. They would crash into the single wooden door of the office in under a minute at the most! If that wasn't enough, the horrific sound of moaning and wailing outside that lone door, the gnashing of teeth and the wailing of hunger was truly heart stopping. It brought back painful memories to the British man; one's that he never wanted to remember again.

He frantically pressed the button on the panel to make the elevator go down, but it wasn't moving! The endless ranks of festering corpses were getting closer by the second, along with the man on the floor had now clawed his way back to his feet! The Agent slammed the button in sheer desperation until those doors where practically forced shut! In the very last second as they closed, he could see the door to the office come down, and the zombies pour in.

He had escaped from utter butchery with mere seconds to spare. He felt his back slide down the elevator wall as he sat on the floor. His gun clutched between a pair of shaking hands. Memories of pure terror ripped through his mind as the cold steel box he sat in descended further below the ground.

"Dammit… Keep it together…"

Eventually he stood upright with the gun in his hand. Forcefully, he brought his breathing under control. From there, he removed the Night Vision glasses covering his eyes, along with the winter jacket that covered his body. Lastly, he took off the gloves. With the coat now cast aside, it revealed the black army style t-shirt he was wearing underneath. Once everything was in order he combed his damp hair back again with his hand, releasing a slightly more relaxed breath.

After readying another round in his pistol, his mind slowly recovered from the shock.

"I am NOT going back that way…"

* * *

As the elevator door slid open, a large security room revealed itself to him, with multiple monitors and screens. After stepping out of the elevator, he glanced around to make sure the place was secure. A dead body sprawled in a chair, slumped across it even. There was no way he was going to fall for that one again! Not a chance in hell!

Aiming his weapon carefully, the mysterious man put a bullet in the back of the corpse's head without a shred of remorse. Now that he was quite sure the body, he pulled the chair back, and wheeled it into the corner.

After he looked around a little more and became sure the cost was clear the Agent pulled up his own seat at the massive control console, and looked upon all the screens with a confident expression.

Every single room inside the research complex was now in plain view. His goal had most definitely been reached.. The fourth basement level! From here, he had the power to hack into the system entirely. Hacking was his one true strong point. His eyes found their way to a particular monitor of the bunch! It showed Chris and his team stepping out of the elevator on the floor below him! Basement level five!

They advanced down the corridor to doors that led into one of the research labs. However, it was sealed and they couldn't get past it as they were.

"_Chris, it's sealed,"_ The Agent heard Leon say over the security system. These feedback systems where obviously advanced enough to pick up sound.

The British man watched as the government Agent and the BSSA soldier tried to apply pressure and force it open, but alas, they didn't have any luck.

"_I don't believe this. We came all this way and there's ONE door blocking us…"_ Chris growled angrily.

After looking at the screen to the side left of him, the Agent could see why! Beyond that door was the entrance to a research lab! It isolated because test subjects had escaped from their containment units, with the result been incomprehensibly violent. Now undead human's and a stray Regenerator where wandering unchecked.

"Time to lend you guys a hand." The British agent cracked his knuckles and started to tamper with the voice altering equipment on the intercom system. Once he finished, he leaned over to the microphone and switched it on.

"I can get that open for you, but you HAVE TO be ready. B.O.W's are on the other side."

When the sound of his voice started to echo, the group on the level below where obviously the slightest bit surprised. Through the chaos, it was Claire who would be the one to talk back.

"_How can we trust you if you were in here before us? You could be working for them."_

The Agent cracks into the access settings for the wireless communication system and calibrates it to work with his watch. Once it's ready, he brings it close to his mouth so he can speak.

"I assure you I'm not. You have my word on that. Behind that door I can see four zombies, and something that comes up on file as a…REGENARATOR. Unsealing it is going to cause BIG trouble unless you're ready."

He continued to watch as the group on the level below descend into a debate over the whole situation. They clearly weren't all that trusting over the situation, and he could understand why. Eventually thought, like before, it was Claire who spoke up!

"_Can you give us a name for yourself? We don't have any reason to take your help unless we can start to trust you!"_

They were all exceedingly smart as well. That was just how he remembered Leon and Claire from the days that had long since passed by. However, first name basis wasn't really something that was at liberty. After a slightly annoyed sigh escaped from his lips, he finally gave them a name.

"That isn't a problem. The name's Markus Valiant. Now, is there anything else you need from me? Time's short for all of us here, I'm sure. I doubt you people have clearance to be here EITHER."

After much waiting, the man now known as Markus saw the group he was watching on-screen descend into brief discussion again. After a short while, Claire looked up at the screen.

"_Please will you unseal the door for us? After we're through, we want some answers from you, deal?"_

Finally, some progress in regards to this rather grim situation. After giving a silent nod to himself, Valiant brought his hands to the console and started to get access to the security network which was responsible for sealing the door. He worked fast, remembering just how little time they really did have in here.

His fingers moved across keys like a man possessed. Within his mind, everything was working in overdrive to find the backdoor access route past this insanely overactive firewall. He had it pinned down for a brief moment, then cracked in. If he didn't open the door now though, it was going to reset and seal again. So it really was a now or never situation.

He hastily raised his watch to speak, "Door opening in five seconds. I'll contact you again when you get to the main office past the research lab at the other side of the hall. Good luck, ALL OF YOU."

No sooner than he pressed the button, could he hear the nerve-wracking shred of pistol rounds erupting from the freshly oiled chambers of firearms. Silently, he disconnected the intercom system from his watch and a deep sigh escaped.

"This is it," He slumped back into his seat.

"We're here for you Sherry… I just pray you're still alive in there…"

Known to Markus, yet unbeknown to the rest of the group, the surveillance feed to Sherry's research tank in basement level seven was severed clean. The only way Markus was going to reach his goal, was through the help of others. He had unquestioning faith in them, Leon and Claire especially. However, he had learned that nothing was certain in this lifetime…

**End of Chapter 1B**

* * *

**There you have it folks! The end of Markus' chapter! Hope you guys enjoyed the overlapping effect they had, because that's how I shall be writing the next segment of this story!**

**I'd also like to give a special thank you to Diet C0ke Evil, who has been reading this story recently. You came along at the right time, because about a week before your review I was just starting to plan out the ideas for this! Well then guys, until next time!**


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